Before Dumbledore had even finished speaking, the entire Dining Hall erupted in a roar of chatter.
The young witches and wizards had completely shaken off their earlier somber mood and launched into excited discussions about the Grand Common Room.
Zhang Xiao was astonished to discover that the atmosphere in the Dining Hall had utterly changed. He looked toward Dumbledore, who stood smiling in front of the Podium, watching the students talk.
From sorrow to well wishes, and now to excitement, Dumbledore had kept the students' emotions firmly in his grasp, as though he held a magical conductor's baton.
With a single wave, everyone else would find themselves following his lead.
This handling of public opinion... he was better than the PR firms in my previous life!
As though noticing Zhang Xiao's gaze, Dumbledore looked over and winked at him.
Zhang Xiao looked away, gathered himself, and joined the lively discussion around him. Apart from the dining tables, this was his first major initiative that had truly changed Hogwarts.
Everyone seemed restless. They eagerly joined any discussion about the soon-to-open Grand Common Room, and the very air at Hogwarts seemed filled with the students' swirling thoughts.
The couples dating across House lines were beside themselves with excitement. They huddled off to one side, whispering about studying together and doing their homework side by side.
They seemed full of anticipation for their future school life.
In an empty classroom, Zhang Xiao even discovered Percy kissing Penelope, Ravenclaw's female Prefect. They were discussing whether to make their relationship public so they could openly spend time together in the Common Room.
Percy hesitated considerably. Zhang Xiao had expected him to refuse, but in the end, he actually blushed and nodded his agreement.
It made Zhang Xiao feel that, besides being obsessed with holding